Neil Harbisson

Neil Harbisson (born 27 July 1982) is a Catalan-raised British-Irish cyborg artist and cyborg rights advocate who has been described as the world's first legally recognised cyborg and as the world's first cyborg artist. International attention grew after he received permission to appear in his UK passport photo with an antenna implanted in his skull, a device he considers a new sensory organ. His artistic and activist work centres on expanded perception, the development of artificial senses and the rights of people with technologically extended bodies. Since 2004, Harbisson has used his antenna to perceive colour—including infrared and ultraviolet—through audible vibrations transmitted via bone conduction. The device can also receive images, colour data, and signals from external sources, including the internet. In 2010, he co-founded the Cyborg Foundation, an organisation dedicated to defending cyborg rights, supporting people seeking to extend their senses, and promoting cyborg art. In 2017, he co-founded the Transpecies Society, which advocates for self-design and recognition of individuals with non-human identities or sensory systems.

Early life Harbisson was born to a Spanish mother and a Northern Irish father. He was born with achromat vision. Raised in Barcelona where he studied piano and began composing at the age of 11. During his secondary studies he obtained permission to complete all visual coursework in black and white. As a teenager, he became involved in environmental activism, notably participating in a tree-protection campaign that drew significant community support. At the age of 19, he moved to England to study composition at Dartington College of Arts.

Works Harbisson describes his practice as cyborg art, a discipline focused on creating and integrating new senses and organs into the human body. He has also referred to this approach as perceptionism, emphasising the design of new perceptual systems rather than external objects. Within this framework, the artist, artwork, medium, and audience merge; the sensory extension itself is considered the artwork, and the artist’s lived experience constitutes the creative act.

Artificial Senses (AS) Harbisson’s practice centres on the design and permanent integration of artificial senses—technologically mediated sensory systems intended to expand human perception beyond conventional biological limits. These devices are treated as sensory organs rather than external tools.

Cyborg Antenna The cyborg antenna is a permanently implanted sensory device extending from the back of his head. Originally developed in 2003 with Adam Montandon and later refined by Peter Kese and Matias Lizana, the antenna transposes colour frequencies into vibrations transmitted through the skull. It detects visible and non-visible wavelengths, including infrared and ultraviolet. It can connect to external devices or satellites to receive additional signals. After several ethics committees rejected the procedure, the implant surgery was performed anonymously. Harbisson has allowed individuals to transmit colours and images directly to his head and has stated that these inputs can influence his dreams. The first public demonstration of a skull-transmitted image was broadcast live on Al Jazeera's The Stream. The first person to make a phone call directly into his skull was Ruby Wax. In 2014 he created what was described as the first “skull-transmitted painting,” receiving live colour signals from Times Square and accurately reproducing them on canvas before an audience at The Red Door.

Sense of Time: Solar Crown The Solar Crown is a sensory device for the sense of time. A rotating point of heat takes 24 hours to slowly orbit around the head. When the point of heat is felt in the middle of the forehead it is midday solar time in London (longitude 0°), when the heat reaches the right ear it is midday in New Orleans (longitude 90°). When the brain gets accustomed to the passage of time on the head, modifying time perception can be explored by altering the speed of rotation. Harbisson states that in the same way we can create optical illusions because we have eyes for the sense of sight, we should be able to create time illusions if we have an organ for the sense of time. If time illusions work, he will then be able to stretch or control his perception of time, age, and time travel.

Transdental Communication System: BlueTOOTH (Bluetooth Tooth) The transdental communication system is composed of two teeth, each containing a bluetooth enabled button and a mini vibrator. Whenever the button is pressed it sends a vibration to the other person's tooth. One tooth was installed in Harbisson's mouth and the other tooth in Moon Ribas's mouth. Both Harbisson and Ribas know how to communicate in morse code, therefore they are able to communicate from tooth to tooth. The first demonstration of the system was presented in São Paulo.

Scientific and academic research

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